KZN Wetland Park continues turtle conservation

The giant leatherback turtle can weigh as much as one tonne. This population, which is genetically unique (distinct from those in the Caribbean), is more endangered than rhinos.

Durban - The iSimangaliso Wetland Park has spent more than 50 years protecting the sea turtle. It remains one of only a handful of marine World Heritage Sites, globally, that protects the beach nesting sites of these magnificent sea creatures. Within the Park’s 220km shoreline, and beyond the transfrontier boundary with Mozambique’s Maputo Special Reserve, lie the southernmost African nesting grounds for the loggerhead and endangered leatherback turtles.

Between November and March each year, female turtles return to the same beach, where they were born, to nest. This is hailed as a miracle of nature.

Recent scientific research shows that leatherbacks return after 15 years while loggerheads take 36 years before laying. At the base of the undulating dunes, they dig deep nests that they fill with scores of ping pong ball-sized eggs that herald the future survival of the species. With an ultimate survival rate of less than 5 per 1000, this most fragile of life cycles needs all the human protection possible. iSimangaliso is proud of the more than five decades of continuous protection and research that has taken place under the auspices of conservation managers Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, which still receives the highest priority. Monitoring is in place in the area of highest density which is between the Kosi Bay/Mozambique border to Mabibi.

Turtle tours are a great tourist attraction in the Park and the general consensus is that the further north one travels, the more likely one is to see turtles laying or hatching. In the Kosi Bay section of iSimangaliso, community guides take nightly walking tours where one has an excellent chance of seeing several of these animals. At Sodwana Bay and St Lucia, vehicle tours take tourists onto the beach for a few hours at low tide. They have also reported a very good season.

Doctor Ronel Nel, who has engaged in several aspects of turtle research for many years, said they will continue with the ongoing monitoring to maintain continuity and integrity with the previous 50+ years of data collection.

“We are also monitoring the success of nests.Each researcher has a nest that they are working with and this gets followed through the season to assess predator interference. Their predators include badgers, the water mongoose, monitor lizards, ghost crabs, over wash, erosion, sand smothering and ultimately hatching and emergence success,” Nel said.

On average, iSimangaliso has a hatching and emergence success of 70-75% for each species which is very good by international standards. These include Epibiont work – where each turtle functions as a microhabitat carrying a number of species that live on the backs of turtles, some of them being almost exclusive to turtles. Barnacles can be used to track the health of the population. Other organisms, like amphipods and isopods, or worms living in shell grooves, may indicate the foraging area/habitat of turtles. This is by turtle hatchling fitness and females sizes, which have implications for the population dynamics of the species as well as the effect of temperature on hatchlings, which could indicate inter alia the effects of climate change on the population.

Nerosha Govender, iSimangaliso’s Manager of Development and Planning, said in science, there always seem to be far more questions than answers.

“The consistent monitoring that has been in place in iSimangaliso has unquestionably contributed to the fact that the Park still boasts healthy turtle populations as well as a world-class visitor experience,” she said.